Should Bobi Klintman start for Wake Forest?
Wake Forest fell on the road to the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday, losing 96-87 despite shooting 55% from the field and making 15 threes. Tyree Appleby also struggled taking care of the ball, committing a whopping 12 turnovers. Wake Forest now faces another daunting test on the road against NC State on Tuesday, and there are plenty of adjustments that need to be made, especially on the defensive end.
Enter — potentially — Bobi Klintman.
Klintman has come alive over the past several games. Since Wake traveled to Duke on Jan. 31, he’s is 15/24 from the field including 9/15 from three point land. Against Miami, he was one of just two players on the team to finish with a positive plus-minus, posting a +9. He’s playing with a ton of confidence, and I think when he’s on the floor he unlocks possibilities that don’t exist when Matthew Marsh or Davion Bradford are out there.
Klintman is a more effective floor spacer and scorer than both Marsh and Bradford, and doesn’t give up a ton of size to either of them at 6-10. With Klintman at the four and Andrew Carr at the five, this team can trot out a “small” lineup that features two mobile 6-10 stretch big men who can both score from multiple levels.
I also wrote before the Miami game that it would take a collective defensive effort with no clear weak link in order to limit Miami’s offensive success. There was no doubt the Canes would have their moments on offense, especially at home against a Wake Forest team ranked 13th in the ACC in scoring defense. Even with the 19 turnovers that led to 34 points, giving up 96 is tough to stomach in any college basketball game, especially considering the efficient clip at which Miami scored. The Canes were 59% from the field and 50% from three, and guards Isaiah Wong and Nijel Pack combined for 51 points.
There was a clear chink in the armor on the defensive end — Matthew Marsh. Though he went 5/5 from the field and scored 12 points, Marsh played and was a team-low -20 in just over 19 minutes of playing time. The youngster still doesn’t have great instincts defensively in the pick-and-roll, and Miami was able to exploit that weakness consistently.
I certainly don’t know what the answers are on the defensive end. However, I do know that a battle with NC State looms, and DJ Burns will be licking his chops after dropping a career-high 31 points against Wake Forest last time out. There are some x’s and o’s decisions the coaching staff needs to make for this matchup, but at the end of the day the players need to step up and do a better job guarding.
I’m also curious how Klintman would fare guarding DJ Burns against NC State. Burns will certainly be licking his chops after putting up 31 at the Joel a few weeks ago, and someone will have to answer the call. Marsh got abused last time out, and Forbes seemed hesitant to go to Bradford down the stretch. The team is clearly better in nearly every aspect with Klintman out there, and I think inserting Klintman into the starting lineup could give this team the spark they need to close out the regular season with a winning streak.
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